1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to memory cells, and in particular to a memory cells which utilize ferroelectric (inorganic and polymer) materials, conjugated polymers and related materials (phthalocyanines, porphyrines, organic-charge transfer complexes and the like) and/or their composites.
2. Background Art
The proliferation and increased usage of portable computer and electronic devices has greatly increased demand for memory cells. Digital cameras, digital audio players, personal digital assistants, and the like generally seek to employ large capacity memory cells (e.g., flash memory, smart media, compact flash, or the like). Memory cells can be typically employed in various types of storage devices. Storage devices include long term storage mediums such as, for example, hard disk drives, compact disk drives and corresponding media, digital video disk (DVD) drives, and the like. The long term storage mediums typically store larger amounts of information at a lower cost, but are slower than other types of storage devices. Storage devices also include memory devices which are often, but not always, short term storage mediums.
Also, memory cells can generally be subdivided into volatile and non-volatile types. Volatile memory cells usually lose their information if they lose power and typically require periodic refresh cycles to maintain their information. Volatile memory cells include, for example, random access memory (RAM), DRAM, SRAM and the like. Non-volatile memory cells maintain their information whether or not power is maintained to the devices. Examples of non-volatile memory cells include; ROM, programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash EEPROM the like. Volatile memory cells generally provide faster operation at a lower cost as compared to non-volatile memory cells. Nonetheless, to retain the information, the stored data typically must be refreshed; that is, each capacitor must be periodically charged or discharged to maintain the capacitor's charged or discharged state. The maximum time allowable between refresh operations depends on the charge storage capabilities of the capacitors that make up the memory cells in the array. The memory device manufacturer typically specifies a refresh time that guarantees data retention in the memory cells.
As such, each memory cell in a memory device can be accessed or “read”, “written”, and “erased” with information. The memory cells maintain information in an “off” or an “on” state (e.g., are limited to 2 states), also referred to as “0” and “1”. Typically, a memory device is addressed to retrieve a specified number of byte(s) (e.g., 8 memory cells per byte). For volatile memory devices, the memory cells must be periodically “refreshed” in order to maintain their state. Such memory devices are usually fabricated from semiconductor devices that perform these various functions and are capable of switching and maintaining the two states. The devices are often fabricated with inorganic solid state technology, such as, crystalline silicon devices. A common semiconductor device employed in memory devices is the metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET).
Because of the increasing demand for information storage, memory device developers and manufacturers are constantly attempting to increase speed and storage retrieval for memory devices (e.g., increase write/read speed). At the same time, to reach high storage densities, manufacturers typically focus on scaling down semiconductor device dimensions (e.g., at sub-micron levels). Nonetheless, formation of various transistor type control devices that are typically required for programming memory cell arrays increase costs and reduces efficiency of circuit design.
Therefore, there is a need to overcome the aforementioned deficiencies associated with conventional devices.